Daily Lunch Served to Students K-5th Grade

Beginning Fall 2016, daily lunch will be provided for students in our Kindergarten through 5th grade classes. We are very excited to be partnering with Butter Beans, a lunch service provider that already works with a number of other New York City independent schools. Butter Beans’ similar commitment to minimizing waste, and their desire and ability to weave food, wellness and nutrition into the educational program makes them an ideal partner for this exciting new venture.

What's for Lunch?

See what Butter Beans has to say about the service they offer to independent schools across the city:

We take pride in cooking all of our meals from scratch, using the most local and seasonal ingredients as possible. Our lunches offer a plethora of options to satisfy growing children, from the most picky to the most adventurous, and everyone in between. They are full of whole grains, legumes, veggies, healthy fats, fresh fruit and well sourced meat, and poultry making it easy for children to achieve a balanced and nutritious lunch.

More than a meal, lunch service creates an opportunity to delve deeper into the subjects of health and wellness. Butter Beans shares our goal of enriching the curriculum through the inclusion of nutrition education. The program will consist of the following:

Menus consist of healthy, homemade, fresh, flavorful and fun food – with a treat on Fridays!

Daily options available for children who are picky, adventurous, have food allergies or specific dietary needs.

Variety of hot main entrees, with meat and vegetarian options, along with veggie sides, and a sandwich, soup and salad bar every day. (Our menu can be found at butterbeanskitchen.com.)

Exposure to new foods in a safe, non-judgmental environment which allows children to grow as eaters (sometimes offered in small tasting cups) – always beside familiar foods they already love.

Nutrition education in the lunchroom, with food labels and nutrition table tops to explore.

A commitment to sustainability goals, using hormone and antibiotic free meat, as well as a coordinated effort to reduce food waste.

Incorporation of the rooftop garden into the menu to allow students to experience the seed to table journey.

Reducing Waste and Increasing Sustainability

Butter Beans aims to improve the health and wellness of our communities by serving nutritious school meals and directing food education programs. Butter Beans support the pillars of sustainability by engaging in the following initiatives:

Composting our food scraps in our commissary kitchen

Working with schools to ensure that they have dishwashing capabilities so that all small wares can be reusable

Providing schools with compostable small wares if dishwashing is not available

Supporting local food economies by sourcing our meat, produce, and dairy products as local as possible

Supporting the Meatless Monday campaign

Educating our school lunch students, cooking class chefs, and summer campers about the journey of food from seed to plate, and the importance of supporting local farms